01. Caught In Their Wicked Game02. There Ain't No Justice03. Circle Of Trust04. Living To Die05. Before You Run06. You Gotta Kick It07. Turn Me Loose08. Born To Be A Fighter09. Anytime Anywhere10. Kiss Of Death

Have you ever wondered what would have turned out if Def Leppard played power metal? In the name of your mental sanity, I hope not. Anyway, the result would have been Silent Force.

Six years have passed since the band's last release, Walk The Earth, and many things happened. Primarily, the lineup has undergone a real revolution, with keyboardist Alessandro Del Vecchio and veteran Primal Fear bassist Matt Sinner joining the ranks, and vocalist Michael Bormann replacing Royal Hunt's legend DC Cooper. Anyway, guitarist Alex Beyrodt is still present, and that's probably what allowed the band to survive.

Rising From Ashes, both in the album title and content, symbolized this rebirth, revealing to us a renewed and strong band, that cut some bridges with the past while not disowning it.

As the progressive influences that enriched Silent Force's music in the early years fade away, they get replaced by an increasing amount of 80's rock. This, in fact, should be more correctly labelled as "power hard rock", despite how strange this may seem. There's not this much of up-tempo, double bass tracks, and neither are there happy-go-lucky fun tunes present or, to put it simply, these aren't those that gained the not-so-acclaimed label of "flower metal". On the contrary, Rising From Ashes is mid-paced, well-cadenced and solid: indeed, all features it shares with hard rock.

The new members have introduced themselves at best. Michael Bormann had huge shoes to fill, as replacing DC isn't easy for anyone, but his performance righteously enters among the many ups of this album: well incorporated in the music and not afraid to show personality, he equips Silent Force with new roughness, and throughout the whole album there's not a moment in which he doesn't sound perfectly at ease. Keyboards always played a crucial role in the band, and Del Vecchio shows what he's capable of, both in the song structure and in the duets with Beyrodt, while Bormann delivers a finally audible bass.

Alex Beyrodt's work shouldn't be new to anyone passionate about this genre: his riffing is a pillar around which the entirety of each song is built, and the leads, with the above-mentioned interlaces with the keys, are all engaging and scream to the listener "do NOT stop this song!".

Rising From Ashes is a catchy, concrete album, has great moments and has balls, but is it going to become a classic? No, it's not, and this is mainly due to the little variation between one track and another, both in the structure and in the mood.

This no way detracts from the fact that this is a release that ensures fun, from the first to the last second. And watch out, because I'd bet my house on the fact that this band is able to deliver one hell of a live show.

I was hugely disappointed with this album. I had high hopes for this due to the high profile of the new members and the fact that their last two album were great, especially Worlds Apart, which is one of my favorite power metal albums. The only thing I was worried about was with the exception of a small handful of guys, replacing DC Cooper is pretty much impossible. Don't get me wrong, it has it's moments. The first couple songs are pretty good, but after the first half, you just kind of get bored with all the songs kind of sounding the same. This album is less power metal and more hard rock, which sadly is a growing trend in power metal these days. I also can't help but feel that the album's highlights would have sounded way better with Cooper singing. Disappointed that Alex Beyrodt was satisfied with this being the follow up to Walk the Earth, but he absolutely kicks ass on the new Primal Fear album as does Matt Sinner, so check that one out instead if you want to hear these guys at their best.

Have to say that the performance here is something particularly special, although the song writing isn't remarkable in the slightest. I can see what you guys are saying, it does lean into the hard rock side of things to a greater extent. That said, and as a comparison in terms of quality, I'd easily take this over anything Edguy have put out for quite some time.